The Jackson City Council voted Tuesday to oppose efforts to expand school choice in Mississippi, passing a resolution that puts the city on record against “public and private school choice programs that undermine education.”
The measure, introduced by Council President Brian Grizzell, a former educator who represents Ward 4, passed 5-1. Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote cast the lone “no” vote. Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes was absent.
Grizzell said he modeled the resolution on one the nearby City of Clinton approved earlier this year.
“I think it helps that we join them in that fight,” Grizzell said. “We don’t think that it’s fair for public dollars to go towards private schools. You know, I do believe in school choice, but we have plenty of public schools that will take our public-school children — even public charters.”
Grizzell added that he has heard rumors that Republican Gov. Tate Reeves may call a special session to advance school choice legislation backed by him and House Speaker Jason White. The Mississippi Association of Educators, which represents nearly 8,000 teachers and faculty statewide, has also posted on social media about the rumors and urged residents to be alert.
Reeves and White did not respond to a request for comment before publication time of this story.
The Jackson City Council at City Hall in a July 8, 2025 file photo. The council voted 5-1 this week on a resolution opposing the expansion of school choice, a key issue in state and national politics.
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And on that point, Ward 7 Councilman Kevin Parkinson, who seconded Grizzell’s resolution, could speak from experience. A former principal of Midtown Public Charter Schools in Jackson, Parkinson said he believes school choice has value when it comes to public charter schools.
“Some people try to lump all school choice together and create this narrative that you’re either in favor of every possible version of school choice or you’re completely against every possible version of school choice,” Parkinson said. “And that’s why I wanted to stand with Councilman Grizzell on this issue to illustrate ‘no, the nuances actually matter,’ and there are sizable differences between various school choice options.”
Most school districts in Mississippi — and across the country — assign students to schools based on where they live. Parkinson said public charter schools, which are free and have open enrollment, give families another option when the neighborhood school isn’t a good fit. He noted that charters can be especially important for parents who can’t move to another district, afford private tuition or devote the time required for homeschooling.
Parkinson said many families have little choice but to send their children to the school tied to their home address, even when that school isn’t a good fit. Public charter schools, he explained, give those families another free, open-enrollment option that doesn’t require tuition, testing or relocation.
“To me, it’s an equity issue,” Parkinson said. “There are families in the city who, for whatever reason, the school where their kid is assigned to go to is simply not working and they need another option and I think those families deserve another option. That’s why I passionately support public charter schools.”
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But Parkinson drew a sharp line between public charter schools and private school vouchers, criticizing efforts by lawmakers to group them together under the banner of “school choice.” He said charters operate as part of the public system — free, open to all and held to state standards — while vouchers take tax dollars that would normally go to a child’s public school and use them to pay tuition at private schools.
Private schools, he noted, can choose which students to admit, are not required to give state tests or hold public meetings and often serve families who were already paying tuition. Equating that system with public charters, Parkinson said, is misleading and unfair.
Parkinson said his support only extends to Mississippi’s narrow Education Scholarship Account program, which gives families of students with special needs state funds to help cover private school tuition or services.
That stance put Parkinson at odds with Foote, a longtime Republican who recently switched to an independent. Foote said he opposed the resolution because it excluded vouchers for private schools such as First Presbyterian, St. Andrew’s, Jackson Academy and St. Richard’s.
Foote argued that competition would improve all schools and that “parents and their children need access to the schools that they think are best for them, and that should include all of Jackson’s schools.” He said vouchers funded by the state’s share of education costs could help make that possible.
While Foote stood alone in Tuesday’s vote, his position reflects a broader partisan divide. Democrats on the council backed the resolution as a show of support for public schools, while Foote echoed Republican leaders at the state and national level who are pushing vouchers and other forms of school choice.
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State and national fight grows
School choice — often called “education freedom” or “parent power” — is a national debate with growing traction in Mississippi. It refers to policies that let families use public money for alternatives to traditional public schools, such as private, charter, magnet or even homeschooling.
Supporters say it gives parents more control and creates competition. Critics say it drains resources from public schools that already struggle.
In Mississippi, Republican House Speaker Jason White has made school choice his top priority for the 2026 legislative session. He wants to combine several proposals that failed this year, including private school tuition subsidies, easier public-to-public transfers, district consolidation and letting homeschooled students play public school sports.
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Most of those bills died in the Senate without debate. The biggest proposal — allowing students in low-rated districts to use state funding for private schools — stalled in the House at White’s direction.
White has framed the push as giving parents more say in their children’s education. He created an “Education Freedom Committee” to study reforms and said the effort will mirror his approach to House Bill 1, the sweeping tax cut passed earlier this year.
“Education freedom will be one of our ‘big, beautiful bills’ in the 2026 legislative session,” White said at the 2025 Neshoba County Fair.
Reeves also used his Neshoba speech to signal support for expanding school choice, putting the state’s top leaders in sync with President Donald J. Trump’s push for what he has branded ‘parent power.’”
Trump has also made school choice a national priority. He recently signed an executive order directing federal agencies to favor such programs when awarding grants and to issue guidance for states on expanding them. The move followed defeats at the ballot box in Colorado, Kentucky and Nebraska, where voters rejected school voucher and choice measures.
Despite those setbacks, more state legislatures have become more open to universal school choice laws in recent years, and parents have increasingly sought options outside traditional public schools. It is a trend that accelerated after COVID-19 shutdowns fueled learning loss and frustration with local districts.
Whether Mississippi moves forward could also depend on what happens in Congress. Supporters want to expand eligibility based on income and poverty. Opponents — including many public school advocates — argue the changes would only further weaken struggling districts.
Charlie Drape is the Jackson beat reporter. You can contact him at cdrape@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: How Jackson is handling school choice amid state GOP focus on issue